Taking The Lead
by nil.persona
Summary: One slip is all it takes to change the outcome of a race. Aizawa x Arimoto. Slighly AU.
1. Chapter 1  Sighs

Both _Shiawase Kissa Sanchoume_ and _Number One DX_ are owned by Matsuzuki Kou. Standard disclaimers apply.

* * *

**Taking The Lead**

Chapter 1: Sighs

Aizawa Hajime sighed as he walked down the deserted late afternoon hallways of the school.

Today was arguably the worst day in the life of the student council president. No thanks to a stroke of sheer bad luck, all three of his colleagues in the student council came down with the flu and weren't able to come to school today.

_"Yamane-san I could understand,"_ Aizawa thought to himself when he heard the news in the morning. _"But both Ooizumi **and** Kawashima? That must be a pretty strong bug to take both of them down."_

And so the ever-smiling president had to deal with the student council duties alone. Now it wouldn't have been that bad if it was a normal day, but unfortunately for him, it was one of the busiest days of the year. The district and regional competitions for a good number of the various sports and interest clubs in the school just happened to be scheduled close to each other, most of them to be held over the next few weeks. This resulted in a steady stream of requests and complaints to be handled by the student council.

For today, Aizawa had to meet with 8 different clubs and help them with their problems. Alone.

By the fifth club, he was already losing his cool. At the last club, the soccer club, he was already fed up with the outlandish requests that the meeting degenerated into a shouting match between him and the team captain. They would have let their fists do the talking had the club manager not intervened. In the end, they agreed to continue the meeting tomorrow to let both parties simmer down.

_"I really screwed that one up,"_ Aizawa told himself as he continued walking towards the lobby of the school. Feeling his sweat starting to drip off the side of his face, he took out his handkerchief with his free hand to wipe it off.

Aizawa's troubles didn't end with the soccer club, though. A few minutes after the failed meeting, he recalled having to submit some papers to a teacher after class. Without to Ooizumi remind him, or Kawashima to order in his stead, he simply failed to do the task.

The whole situation ended with him having to run across the school grounds with a stack of paper in his hands, and still having to apologize profusely to the teacher who apparently has been waiting for him for over half an hour.

_"There goes my 'perfect' reputation,"_ Aizawa sighed again when he recalled the incident with the teacher.

He was so deep in thought that when he turned the corner of the hallway, he almost collided with another person coming from the other hallway.

In a normal situation, Aizawa would've looked up to face the person then offer an apology for the near-accident. But he only got to the "look up" part before his brain locked up.

Before him was Arimoto Ichi, the tall tomboyish girl from 2-1.

The same girl who he had (and still has) a crush on for years.

From the looks of things, she was just as surprised as he was and was also ready to give a quick apology. But unlike Aizawa who immediately put on a poker face, she stopped mid-apology, narrowed her eyes, and gave him a somewhat harsh glare.

The student council president couldn't do anything but blink.

_"What? I haven't said anything yet..."_

After a few moments of glaring at him, Arimoto turned on her heel and continued walking towards the school lobby.

Aizawa blinked a few more times before sighing in defeat.

_"She must've had a bad day too,"_ he pondered as he followed the girl.

=oOo=

Arimoto Ichi sighed as she walked down the deserted late afternoon hallways of the school.

Today was one of the worst days in the life of the tall girl. She woke up late, had to take a shower with a broken heater, and failed two practice exams for two separate classes.

To top things off, basketball practice was a lot harder today. The pressure of the upcoming district tournament was already hard enough as it is, and with about half the team sick, Arimoto was on the court the entire time.

Naturally, she and her team mates protested: that approach shouldn't be allowed due to the threat of injuring the players. But with the coach and manager not around (also due to the flu) and the team captain pushing herself to the limit to keep her mind off her recent break-up, their protests fell on deaf ears.

_"Oh well, at least the day's finally over,"_ she thought to herself, thinking of spending the rest of the day lazing on the couch watching TV.

_"I mean, nothing can make the day any more worse than it is, right?"_ she looked up as if to ask the gods the question.

As if on cue, Fate decided to step in. By looking up, she didn't see the person who just rounded up the corner. Luckily, she was quick enough to react and get out of the way.

She was about to apologize when he realized the person whom she almost collided with.

Aizawa Hajime, student council president.

The bane of her existence since middle school.

_"Oh fucking great!"_

While she is infamous for being tomboyish enough that some claim her to be even more "manly" than a good chunk of the school's male population, Arimoto still had her manners. She didn't voice out that last thought, and instead settled with throwing a fierce glare towards the white haired person in front her.

But the person in question just stood there with a blank look on his face.

_"Got nothing witty to say, huh? Good for you."_ she thought as she turned and went back to walking towards the direction of the lobby.

A few seconds later, she could hear a pair of footsteps walking slowly behind her. Arimoto found nothing suspicious about that: she knew that Aizawa was also on the way home and this hallway was the fastest way to the lobby.

What _was_ suspicious was that she was only hearing footsteps.

After about 10 seconds of walking, she still hasn't heard a word from the person behind her.

At about half a minute of walking, she still has yet to hear an insult or a witty remark from the guy. Not even a snigger.

And it was starting to get irritating.

_"If he's trying out a new way of annoying me, I've got to say it's working."_

By the time she reached her shoe locker, she couldn't help but look back to the person following her.

_"I don't want to look at him, but what if he **isn't** Aizawa?"_ she thought to herself as she looked back. The thought of giving the cold shoulder to someone who just looks like him felt wrong.

Turns out the person walking behind her really _was_ the white haired sophomore, with his blank look now gone and replaced by his trademark smile.

As he approached, the dark haired girl braced for the inevitable taunt coming from the student council president.

Which never came.

Instead, he just smiled a bit wider and nodded as he passed by as though to acknowledge her presence.

No insult, no sarcastic remark, not even a muffled laugh. Just a smile and a nod.

Looking at his retreating form (his shoe locker was much closer to the entrance than hers) two thoughts popped up into her mind.

_"Who are you and what have you done with the **real** Aizawa?"_

_"Ok Aizawa, you win. You now know how to mess up with my head without even doing anything."_

She shook her head to clear his head of those thoughts and went on with changing to her outdoor shoes.

=oOo=

_"Judging from her reaction, I must have really freaked her out."_

Aizawa thought about their short non-exchange as he neared his own shoe locker. He knew Arimoto was expecting him to say something witty, say, something about going home late and how that would affect her grades/looks/whatever. But he was too tired; getting into a verbal match with the person he likes probably wasn't the best way to end the day.

When he reached his shoe locker, his thoughts were already onto different topics like thinking of how to deal with the soccer club. His thoughts were interrupted again, however, as he was starting to put on his right shoe.

"Hey.." a figure loomed over his kneeling form. He already recognized that voice so he didn't need to look up to know that the girl he passed by earlier was the one standing in front of him.

(Looking up would've been a bad idea, Aizawa noted, considering her height, her proximity, and her tendency not to notice that he would have a good view of her panties in his position.)

"Yes, Arimoto?" he replied as he tightened the laces of his right shoe.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Huh? Putting on my shoes, I guess?" he stood without looking at her, hands now reaching towards the left shoe sitting on his locker.

"No, not that," she said, completely ignoring the lame attempt at lightening up the situation. "I was talking about what you did in the hallway."

He turned to look at her with a confused look on his face.

"And what did I do in the hallway?"

"Nothing," she replied matter-of-factly, "You did nothing."

"Something wrong with that?" he raised an eyebrow.

"No. But aren't you supposed to insult me or make fun of me like you always do?"

Aizawa shrugged.

"I just had a really bad day so I didn't feel like doing those things."

Arimoto laughed in amusement.

"Really? Even Mister President here can have his share of bad days?"

In the midst of her laughter, she stopped and seemed to think about something.

"But that shouldn't stop you from teasing me, right?" Her voice started to carry a serious and slightly angry tone.

"I mean, I know you're happy when you're making my life miserable, so why aren't you taunting me right now to make your day better?"

Aizawa gave her a blank look.

_"She thinks I'm happy when she's miserable?"_

The white haired boy sighed as he knelt down to change his other shoe.

"No, I'm not happy when I make someone's life miserable."

_"Especially when that person is the one I love."_

=oOo=

Aizawa started to worry when the tomboyish girl didn't respond to his statement. He expected at least a slight rebuttal like "You **do** enjoy making my life miserable" but all he got was silence. After he finished putting on his other shoe, he looked up to her (taking care not to look up her skirt, of course).

What greeted him wasn't an angry, indignant face, but speechless, shocked and confused face. One that was getting redder by the second.

_"What the..?"_

Then it hit him.

_"Oh shit, I spoke that last thought aloud!"_

Before he could say anything about his accidental confession, Arimoto put her hands to her face and shook her head.

"I get it, Aizawa," she spoke with her hands covering her blushing face. "You're just messing with me. You knew I was used to your taunts by now so you tried something different."

"Congratulations," she added dryly, hands now leaving her face to allow her to give him an annoyed look. "You really got me there."

It was an opening, and Aizawa knew it. He could just brush off that confession as a joke and no harm would be done - Arimoto seemed to be okay with it, albeit slightly annoyed at the situation.

But he couldn't do it. Even though it was just an accident, even though this was was the least romantic place for confessing one's feelings, he couldn't bring himself to deny what he just said.

And so he took a deep breath before standing up to look directly into the angry pair of eyes.

"No, I wasn't joking."

He saw her gaze waver a bit, and a slight hint of confusion was slowly creeping into her face. A small "bullshit" crept out from her lips, her disbelief still evident from the tone of her voice.

"I'm not messing with your head," he continued, his gaze not faltering.

"While I never meant for those words to slip out the way they did, I really meant what I said."

He paused for a moment, readying himself to say the words he had wanted to say for so long.

"I like you. I've liked you since middle school."

=oOo=

Arimoto's face was now a mix of anger and confusion. She broke her gaze and turned away; the recent developments seemed to be too much for her to take in.

"But you were always making fun of me!" she shot back, desperately trying to deny what he just said. "And you always treat me like I'm some useless girl!"

"That's because that's the only way I could talk to you ever since you thought of me as your rival!" he quickly answered. Years of waiting for this day to come allowed him to prepare for the questions she might throw him.

"And besides, didn't I already tell you back in middle school why I treat you like a girl?"

The dark haired girl looked at him again.

"No you didn't," she answered with full conviction. "All you said was that it was only _me_ that you treat like a girl. You never told me _why_."

Aizawa wanted to slap his face for forgetting how dense she was.

"What I meant back then was that even though everyone treats you like a guy, I still treat you like a girl."

"Your point?"

That facepalm was getting more and more appealing by the second.

"My point is," he answered in monotone to hide his frustration, "I think of you as a person who can be _admired_ and _loved_ _**as a girl**_."

Based on her reaction to that statement, it looked like she finally understood what Aizawa was saying. Her face lost all traces of anger and was now a mix of shock and confusion, the same look she got when this all started.

_"Time to give the final blow."_

"Since you recall what I said that day with the guy who almost pushed you down the stairs, I think it's time for me to tell you about _that_ other thing we talked about that day."

She blinked at his digression to a totally unrelated topic.

"You mean that one thing you want to be number one at?"

Aizawa smiled.

"Yes. Glad that you remembered."

"What about it?"

He raised his hand to point at her.

"It's you."

"Huh? You're beating around the bush aga.."

Aizawa interrupted her before she could finish her sentence.

"It's you - I want to be _**your**_ number one."

=oOo=

After that second confession, things happened too fast for Aizawa to react.

First was the change in the Arimoto's expression. She was even more shocked and confused now than she was when his feelings slipped out of his mouth a few a few minutes ago. There was also another feeling written on her face that he hasn't seen before.

_"Is it disappointment?" _he thought as he tried to decipher her new visage. _"Or regret?"_

But before he could finish that thought, the dark haired girl took a few steps back...

...and turned to run out of the building.

=oOo=

Aizawa sighed.

"_Just great, Hajime. Not only did you screw up being a student council president **twice**, you also got yourself rejected by the girl you've been pining for for years. In front of your shoe locker, of all the places."_

He wanted to scream. He wanted to bang his head on the lockers.

But he couldn't. Being rejected drained what's left of his energy. All he could do was to lean on the lockers, burying his eyes on his arm to avoid tears from falling.

He just stood there in that position for minutes, using all of his remaining willpower to keep himself from crying. He didn't really know why he wanted to cry; he just knew that if he allowed his body to react naturally, he would be reduced to a crying mess.

=oOo=

"Are you alright, President Aizawa?"

An unfamiliar voice brought Aizawa back to his senses. He didn't know how long he was in that position, but he knew that anyone who would see him like that would immediately worry about his situation.

He peeled his eyes off the arm propped against the lockers to look at the newcomer, all the while thinking how to explain why he was standing like that.

"Oh it's you Nakamura-san," the student council president regarded the bespectacled boy in front of him. He immediately recognized the boy as a member of the photography club, and it didn't take much to figure out that the freshman was going home late because he had to develop some pictures for an upcoming competition.

Aizawa straightened up and tried to give the boy his trademark smile.

"It's nothing," he started giving out his alibi. "I didn't get much sleep last night and I accidentally fell asleep after putting on my shoes."

_"Hopefully that should explain my bloodshot eyes."_

"I see," Nakamura seemed to buy his alibi.

"Well, don't push yourself too hard President Aizawa. A lot of people are counting on you."

And with that, Nakamura said a quick farewell and walked away.

_"People are counting on me... "_

Aizawa straightened up at the thought.

_"I shouldn't be doing this... I'd better save the wallowing in self pity later."_

He nodded as if to agree to that last statement.

And with that, it was the white haired boy's turn to finish up his business at the shoe lockers and walked out of the school building.

=oOo=

While walking at the school courtyard, Aizawa couldn't help but think about Arimoto's reaction to his confession.

_"I counted on the possibility of her rejecting me, but I never thought she'd run away like **that**."_

In his mind, only one possible reason for her running away.

_"She already has a boyfriend."_

While it was an unlikely scenario, to the white haired boy, it was the most logical one that that he could think of.

_"If she didn't have a boyfriend, she'd just turn me down normally. But with a boyfriend, she'd have to state that fact to me. However, she probably thinks that if she had to do that, I'd make fun of the guy to keep my pride intact."_

He seemed to see a flaw in his logic, but he still continued his line of thought.

_"Or something like that. Anyway, the point is that she has a boyfriend."_

_"But who would it be? The guy's definitely not from this school as I've scared away all of them."_

He rubbed his chin, still thinking of how Arimoto would have a boyfriend even though he was sure he made her off limits to potential suitors.

_"Possibly from some other school? "_

_"Or maybe it isn't a **boy**friend but a girlfr..."_

That train of thought was interrupted by an unexpected sight outside the gates of the school.

A certain dark haired student was waiting, head down as if lost in thought.

"What are you doing here, Arimoto?"

=oOo=

The person in question looked up to face him. The expression on her face was different now; there was still a hint of shock and confusion written on her face, but it was mostly replaced by another: that same undecipherable blank look that she had before she ran away.

She isn't replying, but at least she isn't running away this time.

Then a small malicious thought popped up into Aizawa's head.

"Waiting for someone?" he asked, his voice trying to act as normal as possible. Deep inside, he just wanted to confirm his suspicions on whether she has a boyfriend or not.

She seemed to regard the question for a moment before nodding.

"_Looks like she **does** have a lover."_

The sadness and anger that he managed to push away earlier seemed to be coming back to him. At this point, Aizawa thought, the best option would be to just exchange farewells and walk away. It's clear that she doesn't want him and that she's already happy with another person. Who is he to ruin her happiness?

But he still wanted closure.

"If it's okay with you, may I know who that person is?"

As with the last question, she seemed to hesitate a bit before giving her answer.

She raised her hand and pointed at his direction.

Since they were standing outside the school grounds, his first thought was that the "boyfriend" was on the sidewalk behind him. But when he looked over his shoulder, he saw that the sidewalk was completely deserted.

Looking back to the dark haired girl, the only thing he could do was frown.

_"That would mean she was waiting for.."_

"Me? You're waiting for me?"

The dark haired girl nodded.

"Why?" Aizawa started moving closer towards her. He couldn't think of a reason why she would want to talk to him...

Then she started to speak up.

"Sorry about running away from you earlier," she apologized softly. "I didn't know what to say after you said all that..."

_"Oh, I get it. She wants to turn me down properly."_

Aizawa forced a smile before answering.

"No, it's okay. I shouldn't have brought it up without warning in the first place."

She opened her mouth to continue what she was saying earlier, but quickly closed it. Even though her gaze towards the white haired boy was steady, it was apparent that she was also deep in thought, thinking of the right words to say to him.

After a few moments of silence had passed, Arimoto started to speak again.

"I always thought that you hated me." her voice was still soft and apologetic. This unnerved Aizawa who was used to her incendiary tone.

"But when you said that you..." she paused and turned away, still uncomfortable talking about his confession.

"When you said those things, I realized that I was the one who started it all."

Aizawa opened his mouth to protest, but she shook her head before he could speak.

"You know it's true, Aizawa. I was envious of how you were good at everything and how you made things look too easy. I began challenging you, doing all that I could to make you look bad and bring you down."

"Looking back, you never hated me for what I did. Sure, you made fun of me a lot," she stole him a look, eyes filled with regret. "But as you said, you only did that because I was too obsessed in being your rival and that's the only way you could get to talk to me."

Aizawa didn't understand Arimoto's sudden change in behavior and why she was talking non-stop (though he had an idea that his confession had something to do with it), but he just stood there silently, intent on listening to what she had to say.

"To come to think of it, you aren't such a bad guy after all. You don't tease me as much as you did in junior high... hell, I probably talk trash about you a lot more these days."

"And though I never recognized it, you were always there to help me, like that incident in the cultural festival, or whenever I needed tutoring so I won't be held back."

She stopped talking and groaned inwardly. Still avoiding his gaze, she muttered something about "_shouldn't be rambling like this_".

Taking a deep breath, the dark haired girl turned her head to the direction of the person in front of her.

"Anyway, now that we've cleared up the misunderstanding between us, this got me thinking that..."

She bit her lip as if she was unsure of what she was going to say next.

On Aizawa's end, the white haired boy was bracing himself.

_"Here it comes..."_

"What I'm trying to say is, whenever we're not bickering or whenever you help me out, I can't help but feel..."

_"Hate, right?"_

He continued the sentence on his head as her words trailed on the familiar phrase. He clenched his fist, still bracing for the impending rejection.

But she didn't finish that sentence. Instead she turned away again, sitting on her ankles this time, face buried in her hands for the second time today.

"AAARRRGHHHH! Why is this so difficult?" she groaned.

It was Aizawa's turn to be confused.

_"Difficult? What...? Rejecting someone you hate was supposed to be an easy thing to do."_

_"__Unless of course she _doesn't_ hate me..."_ his thoughts trailed as he continued pondering this unexpected turn of events. He looked down at the dark haired girl, hoping to to find clues.

Her face was deep red, and whatever she was trying to say was either frustrating her or embarrassing her. Or both.

_"__...no way!_" he gasped as a **very unlikely possiblity** was clawing its way up his psyche.

Instinctively, he raised an arm to her to help calm her down but she waved the hand off.

"No, I can do this," she said reassuringly.

And with that, she stood up, took a deep breath, and stared at him with eyes full of determination.

"I think I like you too."

=oOo=

It took Aizawa a few moments to take in her words. Actually, he didn't get to think about her confession because his brain locked up at the "like" part. In the end, he just gave in to instinct.

He closed his eyes and gave her a genuine smile as he closed the distance.

"I'm glad..."

=oOo=

"I think I like you too."

Arimoto breathed a sigh of relief after saying those words.

_"There, I said it,"_ she thought as she studied the now slightly-surprised expression of the confessee. _"I hope he reacts well."_

_"On second thought,"_ Arimoto mused, _"I wonder how a guy who just confessed to me would not react well to the news that I like him back?"_

Before she continue that line of thought, the person in question started to respond. He closed his eyes, and gave her a rare genuine smile that touched her heart in ways that his fake smile couldn't.

"I'm glad..." he said softly.

And then he moved forward to embrace her.

"Hey!" she exclaimed, now thoroughly embarrassed as he buried his head on her shoulder in public. "I like you but I never said you could hug m..."

Then she realized what really was happening.

"My god, you're burning up!"

She could feel his unusually high temperature through the fabric on her shoulder. His strained breathing seemed to confirm her concerns.

He didn't mean to embrace her - he simply fainted.

=oOo=

"Let me call an ambulance..." she offered as she reached for her cell phone.

"No, no ambulance" he protested, pulling himself away from her. "My house is just a few blocks from here. I could make it there on my own."

Before he could move farther away, he dark haired girl grabbed his arm and scolded him.

"No, you can't! Not in that condition!"

Without thinking, she took the sling bag from his shoulder and placed next to the sports bag hanging on her own shoulders.

"What are you doing?" he didn't move to stop her, but he still didn't understand why she had to take his bag.

"Making it easier for you to walk," she answered as she moved to his side. She then slid her right arm across his back, allowing him to lean on her shoulder.

Aizawa was initially taken aback by Arimoto's sudden boldness, but he eventually understood what she was offering. He complied, putting his left arm across her shoulders for support. Once in place, she put his left hand in hers to better control him as he slowly let her carry part of his weight.

"There..." she took a few experimental steps to make sure that he was secured and that she could really support him. "Better?"

"Yeah..."

It was only when she heard his answer did she realize how close their faces were.

"ah.. er.." she stammered as she turned away, her face beet red from her confession, his sudden embrace/faint, and now, her closeness to the person she just discovered feelings for. Not really knowing what to say, she said the first thing that came into her mind.

"I could give you a piggyback ride if this is uncomfortable for you..."

"No, this is fine," Aizawa chuckled in spite of his condition. While she knew that she was perfectly capable of doing just that (she's no Takamura-san, but he had seen her lift heavy stuff before), he still found the thought of the tall girl carrying the student council president quite amusing.

Collecting himself after laughing, the white haired boy smiled at the person carrying him.

"Thanks," he said softly. "I really appreciate this."

"Uh.. no problem," she replied as he saw his smile from the corner of her eye. Her mind was still a mess from the crazy developments in the past half hour so she didn't really have anything to say to the person beside her.

In the end, she just sighed. Not a sigh of despair or defeat, but a positive sigh, one that simply concedes that there's no reason to think too much about what's happening - everything was going to be alright.

"Lead the way, President Aizawa."


	2. Chapter 2 Doubts

Both _Shiawase Kissa Sanchoume_ and _Number One DX_ are owned by Matsuzuki Kou. Standard disclaimers apply.

* * *

**Taking The Lead**

Chapter 2: Doubts

Aizawa Hajime was trying not to be overly conscious of the person beside him but was failing miserably. It didn't help that the person in question, one Arimoto Ichi, was a longtime crush that, just a few minutes ago, returned his feelings (after an accidental confession) and is now helping him walk home.

His house was just a few blocks away from school and he was probably still strong enough to get home even with the flu rapidly draining his strength. But she offered to help and he didn't want to argue.

Not that there was a reason for him to argue. If anything, he was overjoyed at the physical contact. The slightly wider than normal shoulders that he was leaning on wasn't as rigid or "manly" as he imagined; they were actually soft, albeit a bit toned. The hand that was holding her arm in place on her shoulders also wasn't rough and calloused as he expected from the basketball player; it was still as smooth and supple as the time they had the "hand size contest" years ago.

And the hair... having taken a post-practice shower, the scent of her shampoo still lingered.

To Aizawa, it was almost intoxicating.

But for all the giddiness and awkwardness that her companion was feeling, Arimoto didn't seem to notice. To her, he was just a sick guy (who just confessed his feelings and got his feelings reciprocated) who was leaning on her for support, speaking up once in a while to give her directions.

She was also struggling to not be overly conscious of him, though for slightly different reasons.

=oOo=

_"Do I really deserve this?"_

Arimoto began to doubt the situation after a couple of blocks of walking.

It didn't take long for her to realize (again) that she was practically hugging one of the most popular guys in school. Most of the girls in school would have probably fainted by now if they were placed in her position, physical contact and all.

And that's not counting a love confession.

Shaking that thought out of her head, Arimoto turned her attention back to their current position. She noted that while the student council president wasn't really heavy, he wasn't just skin and bones like his outside appearance would suggest. Through the arm supporting his back, she could feel the well toned muscles underneath his shirt. She also noted that she couldn't seem to feel his ribs on the shoulder where he's leaning on, hinting that his front was as well built as his back.

_"He's probably sexier now compared to the last time I saw him half-naked for swimming class."_

She groaned and scolded herself mentally for even thinking those thoughts.

She took a quick glance at him. Being sick and exhausted, his trademark grin was nowhere to be seen. But even with his disheveled look, it was not hard to see why a lot of girls swoon over him. While people could debate whether one should consider his soft features "handsome" or "girly", everyone seems to agree that the student council president was cute.

_"And I'm not."_

She sighed.

_"I don't see why he'd settle for a tomboy like me."_

She tried to her best, but she just can't seem to keep negative thoughts from popping into her head.

_"Does he really like me? Or is this all just a joke, him getting back at me for all the times I made fun of him?"_

Fortunately, Aizawa interrupted her from continuing that depressing line of thought.

"We're here."

=oOo=

Mrs. Aizawa, the matriarch of the Aizawa household, was chopping vegetables when a voice came out from the house's entrance.

"I'm home."

It was obviously Hajime, her son, as it was too early for her husband to come home. Still, there was something in his voice that made her worry a bit.

"Um... sorry for the intrusion," another voice came from the entrance piqued her interest further.

A female voice. And it wasn't her daughter's.

Setting aside the vegetables for the moment, Mrs. Aizawa exited the kitchen to check the newcomers. Entering the living room she could see her son and a girl getting taking off their shoes. Her son's face was flushed and his movements were sluggish.

Next to him was a dark hared girl about his height. Mrs. Aizawa noted that she had Hajime's bag on her shoulder and there was a touch of worry on her face.

"Welcome home," she spoke up to get their attention.

"And you are?" she asked the dark haired girl, wondering why she was accompanying her son.

Aizawa's mom's appearance surprised the two, but somehow Aizawa found his voice.

"Ah.. she's Arimoto, an old classmate," he started to explain. "I fainted at school so she sort of helped me get here."

The name sounded familiar, but maternal instincts took over quickly and before she knew it, Mrs. Aizawa was in front of her son with a hand on his forehead to check feel his temperature.

"Uh... yeah.. I'm Arimoto Ichi. Pleased to meet you..." the girl started to introduce herself as the family matriarch was checking over her son.

"I think he's got the flu," she added. "There's a nasty bug going around in school right now..."

Mrs. Aizawa glanced over to the dark haired girl. She furrowed her brow at the name "Arimoto Ichi". There was something familiar with it, but she couldn't put a finger on it...

_"Wait..."_

She turned back to her son. His warm forehead told her that he was indeed very sick, but it wasn't the sign she was looking for. Taking her hand off his forehead, she leaned a bit closer and looked at her son in the eye.

_"That _Arimoto Ichi_?"_

She didn't have to voice it, and it seemed that he understood. He slightly turned away and on his tired face was slightly sheepish smile.

An "I've been caught" look.

Straightening up, she turned to regard Arimoto.

"Oh, where are my manners," she innocently started. "I'm Hajime's mother."

"Thanks for helping Hajime get home," she continued. "You know he can get stubborn sometimes."

"Uh, no problem." Arimoto answered, unconsciously scratching the back of her head in embarrassment.

_"Aww.. how cute..."_

Mrs. Aizawa silently gushed at the now awkwardly acting couple. It was only a few days ago that she saw her son wistfully daydreaming about the girl beside him now and from the looks of things, all it took for them to express their true feelings was for one of them to fall terribly sick and the other to take care of the former.

Cheesy romantic manga cliche or not, the whole thing was simply adorable.

Then she got an idea.

"Ichi-san, could you do me a favor?" she innocently asked, "We ran out of flu medicine recently and I have to run out to buy some for Hajime. Can you help him get to his room upstairs?"

"I think I can get to my room by myself, mom..."

"Ignore him, Ichi-san," the older Aizawa brushed her son's comments off, "He'll probably fall down the stairs if you leave him alone."

Arimoto turned to look at Aizawa's reaction to her mother's statements only to see the white haired teen sigh in defeat.

"This way," he motioned as he started to lead Arimoto to his room.

Arimoto blinked at his odd behavior but quickly recovered. Taking her leave, the dark haired girl gave a quick nod to the elder Aizawa before proceeding to follow the younger Aizawa.

Once the two teens were out of the room, Mrs. Aizawa broke into a giggle. The Aizawa household does, in fact, have enough flu medicine on hand.

_"On second thought, I shouldn't take long to buy medicine,"_ she mused while trying to suppress her giggles, _"They won't do anything when they think I'm going to arrive any second."_

_"After he takes his medicine... now, that would be a perfect opportunity for those two to spend a bit of quality time."_

To preserve the illusion of going out, she went back to her preparing dinner, all the while humming happily at the thought of her son finally having progress with the girl of his dreams.

=oOo=

"Hmm.. not bad," Arimoto mused as Aizawa ushered her into his room.

Apart from its tidiness, the room looked like an average student's room. There were the usual stuff like the bed, bookshelf, and dresser. Two posters lined the wall, one of a blockbuster action movie a couple years back and another of a popular international football team.

The only thing messy in the room was his desk. Various books and sheets of paper were scattered haphazardly around a closed laptop.

_"Glad to see the president's working hard."_

The dark haired her attention away from the desk and back to Aizawa, who had plopped down on his bed while she was scanning his room. Even through the dim light of the late afternoon sun, she could easily see how sick and exhausted her "old classmate" was.

"Where should I put your bag?" she asked after realizing that she was still carrying his.

"You could it there," he absentmindedly pointed to his desk. "The chair and the floor are both fine."

"Okay," she responded as she went over to the desk, pulling the chair to allow her to place his bag on it. She seemed to see something odd on his desk but brushed it off, noting that she had more important things to think about, namely the person lying on the bed.

"Need anything else?" she asked while laying down her own bag to the floor to free her arms.

Aizawa turned to look at her and just blinked.

"Uh.." she looked away and felt heat rising up her cheeks.

"Your mom won't be here for a while and I thought you might need something.." she rambled on trying to hide her embarrassment. Shared confessions or not, she still wasn't used to being nice to the guy.

The white haired teen considered her for a moment before sitting up smiling.

Mischievously.

"Maybe you could help me change?"

_**...!**_

Arimoto turned to him with a shocked look on her face, which quickly changed to an annoyed one.

"You can't even stand but you still do that."

He gave her the best "President Aizawa smile" he could give in his condition, forcing her to sigh in defeat.

"Seriously though, I need to change," he returned to his normal self, noting how damp his clothes are from sweat, "Can you get me a pair of pajamas from the middle drawer of my dresser?"

The tall girl hesitated for a moment, wondering if it's a sincere request or just a ploy to get her to see his underwear drawer. But then she realized the absurdity of that scenario and just went ahead and complied with his request.

=oOo=

"Here you go," Arimoto handed Aizawa the pajama set she got from the dresser.

"Thanks," he replied as he received the set from her.

"There's a basin and a washcloth in the bathroom at the far end of the hall," he continued, his voice a bit hoarse. "You could go get them while I change..."

He paused to give another mischievous smile at the dark haired girl.

"...but you're also free to watch me change."

Arimoto rolled her eyes.

"Just quit it, Aizawa" she berated him.

"And besides, it's not like I'm going to see anything new." she continued, dismissing his latest attempt at annoying her. "PE swimming classes remember?"

"So you're ok with me undressing in front of you?" he teased, slowly unbuttoning his uniform.

"Nope, no problem" she folded her arms and shrugged as if to tell him that it's no big deal.

Deep inside, however, Arimoto was starting to feel uneasy about the situation.

"Really?" he asked again while taking off his shirt, his wet undershirt sticking to his body leaving little to the imagination.

_"Definitely different from the last time I saw him..."_ she mentally whistled as she admired his physique.

Aizawa was in the process of taking off his undershirt giving Arimoto a glimpse of his abs...

...before the she mentally slapped herself and turned around.

_"Oh great, he just made me act like a perverted fangirl."_

She groaned to herself, hearing his light chuckle behind her over her reaction.

_"I'm not going to hear the end of this for weeks."_

"I'm gonna get the washcloth..." she declared as she made her way out into the hallway.

But as she was going out, she saw something from the corner of her eye that made her heart sink...

=oOo=

Arimoto returned to Aizawa's room just in time to see him pop a couple of pills and wash it down with a glass of water. His mother was sitting beside him on the bed, carrying a tray with another glass.

"Ichi-san, you're here," the elder Aizawa noted her arrival, "and I see you've got something for Hajime..."

The dark haired girl looked down at the basin of water in her arms.

"Oh my, I think I forgot to turn off the stove," Mrs. Aizawa interrupted her before she could say anything. After setting the tray on the floor, she stood up and hurriedly went for the door, stopping briefly to bow at Arimoto.

"I leave my son to your care, Ichi-san."

She was out of the room before the Arimoto could respond. The dark haired girl turned to Aizawa, but he just shrugged at her mother's odd behavior before placing the now-empty glass of water on the tray and starting to slip under the sheets of his bed.

Seeing that she won't get any explanations from what just happened, Arimoto shrugged on her own.

=oOo=

_Immerse cloth in water. Wring excess water. Wipe down the person's face and neck to cool them down. Immerse/wring the cloth again. Fold the damp cloth and place it on the person's forehead..._

Arimoto knelt beside the bed as she went ahead with what Mrs. Aizawa expected her to do. The procedure itself was simple; anyone who had a fever would know how to do it.

The sick person on the bed, however, noticed something suspicious about her actions.

The way she used the cloth on him felt... blank. It didn't feel like he was being taken care of by a friend or even an enemy.

And she hasn't spoken a word yet. Something was definitely wrong.

"Is something bothering you?" the white haired teen broke the silence.

"Huh?" She was drying her hands on another hand towel and didn't expect him to talk for a while.

"You don't seem alright," Aizawa continued, "Is it because of how mom made you do this?"

"No, it's ok..."

While it did seem that she was fine with his mom's request, it was clear that she had a problem with something.

"Are you sure nothing's wrong?" he asked again, a bit gentler this time.

She didn't respond. Seeing her blank expression and how she clenched the towel before putting it down, he decided not to press her any further.

=oOo=

"Hey.." Arimoto spoke up after finishing her glass of water. She sat beside the bed, hands holding the glass on her lap and still with a blank expression on her face.

"Yes?" Aizawa sleepily responded. His body really wanted to sleep, but he kept himself awake in case the girl beside her finally told him what was bothering her.

"Am I the only girl in your life?"

That woke him up.

"Wha..."

"I mean, aside from your mother and sister, of course."

Normally she would be a bit embarrassed for leaving such an obvious hole in her questioning, but instead her tone was cold.

Accusing.

"Yes... you might even say you're my 'number one'."

He thought the overly cheesy pun/reference to their earlier conversation would lighten up the mood.

But it didn't. If anything, it only made her tone even more colder.

"...and you don't have anyone else? A 'number two', perhaps?"

Aizawa frowned at the question.

"Well, I did have some crushes in grade school," he admitted. "But come middle school, I never looked at anyone like that other than you."

"So you're telling me that I'm the only one you like?"

"Yes."

A simple answer delivered with total conviction. Gone was his happy-go-lucky persona – he was serious and he wanted the person in front of him to believe it.

But Arimoto didn't buy it.

Instead, she put her glass down and stood up to walk to his table. There, partially hidden behind a stack of paper was a small picture frame.

With a picture of an elegant-looking girl in a yukata.

Arimoto hastily grabbed the frame off the desk and went back to Aizawa, holding the object in front of him in an accusing manner.

"Who the hell is this girl then?"

=oOo=

She expected him to be shocked, sweating bullets from being caught. Or at least put on his poker face and brush off her accusation with a well-thought out excuse.

But even with the evidence less than a mere foot away from his face, the only thing he did was blink.

_blink, blink_

Aizawa blinked, and between blinks he alternated from looking at the picture to looking at the furious girl holding the picture.

"Aren't you gonna say something about this?" she asked, her tone filled with anger and frustration. She didn't want to doubt the things he said moments ago, but his odd response to her "evidence" only served to worsen the situation.

Instead of answering, the sick teen rolled to face the other direction, hastily putting a hand to cover his mouth.

It was futile, though, as it was obvious that he was trying to hold back a laugh.

"Dammit, what's so funny?"

The dark haired girl couldn't take it anymore. From his reaction, it was clear that everything was just a joke. He was sick so there was nothing to stop him from playing with her heart. Had he failed in getting a reaction from her with his fake confession, he could just blame his action later on the flu.

But he did get a reaction. He got an awkward confession. He got her to help him walk home. He got her to stare at his half-naked body and got her to put a damp washcloth on his head.

Aizawa won this round.

_"If only it didn't hurt like this..."_

Before she could do anything rash, however, the white haired teen rolled to face her again.

In a moment, the hand covering his mouth was now pointing at her direction.

"It's you."

=oOo=

"Huh?"

It was now her turn to blink.

Then she realized something: she never got a good look at the picture she was holding. Though there was enough late afternoon sun trickling through Aizawa's room's windows to get around, it was getting hard to see the details of the things around the room, like the titles of the books on his shelf. The stack of paper where she had dug out the frame also covered a good portion of the picture.

Then it hit her.

_"Wait, didn't he point to me like that back at the shoe lockers..." _

She turned the picture over.

What she saw drained her of all her anger and made her sink to the floor.

It was a picture of _herself_ in a yukata, laughing softly.

_"No way..."_

It was so easy to mistake the person in the picture for another girl. From afar, it really didn't look like she was the one in the picture; the way the picture was taken practically made her look like a different person. The angle it was taken and the lack of other people in the picture made her look a bit shorter. And her smiling face plus her relaxed posture made her also look a lot more feminine than usual.

If it wasn't for the yukata's familiar design and the scene in the background, she wouldn't know that it was a picture of her in last year's summer festival.

_"I can't believe I can be this... __**beautiful**__?"_

Suddenly noticing her position, kneeling against Aizawa's bed, Arimoto buried her head on the sheets.

"That was embarrassing."

Aizawa finally let out the chuckle he was holding back.

"Not as bad blurting out a love confession in front of your shoe locker," He noted with soft amusement.

She unburied her head from the sheets went back to looking at the picture.

"Nice pic of me you have here..." she noted some of the finer details of the picture which she held in her hands.

"I still can't believe that I look this good. Was this photo-shopped?" she asked with a bit of disbelief in her tone. She didn't want to accuse him of doing anything weird, but she was really curious about the picture.

"Nope, you really look that cute," he replied. "I couldn't believe it myself, but your vice representative also provided the negatives so I'm sure.."

Aizawa stopped himself when he realized his mistake.

"..I shouldn't have said that."

"She what?" Arimoto wondered how the vice representative got into the picture.

"I got it from your vice representative," he admitted, sighing audibly in the process. "I don't blame you if you think I'm creepy for buying that picture."

Arimoto considered him for a moment before chuckling.

"Nah, it's ok. I think I understand."

She looked back at the picture and continued studying it, her doubts to Aizawa's sincerity slipping by with every odd detail in her attractive self that caught her eye. She also recalled the vice rep carrying an old-style camera that day, lending credibility to his claim that negatives were involved.

"How much?" she couldn't help but ask.

It was his turn again to chuckle.

"You don't want to know."

"Really?" she raised an eyebrow to the vague answer. "Am I _that_ cheap?"

"Let's just say your friends take joy in knowing they can charge me a lot for things like that."

"_That's nice to hear._"

"_Things like that_, huh..." she smirked as a good comeback popped into her head. "I hope those _things_ are just pictures..."

The sick teen gave her an odd look, wondering what she was talking about. From her mischievous smirk, he quickly figured it out.

"I wouldn't...!" he cried out, aghast that she even considered him to be perverted enough to buy certain articles of her clothing.

The dark haired girl couldn't help but laugh at his reaction.

Aizawa was not amused.

"Tell you what," she tried to speak between laughs. "I won't call you a pervert for buying _whatever_..."

She looked away a bit, a hint of a blush forming on her cheeks.

"...if you don't call me a pervert for staring at you while you were changing."

Noting her unusual shift in behavior, Aizawa lightened up.

"Deal." he answered.

Finally finding the whole situation funny, if not totally weird, he broke into a chuckle of his own. Arimoto resumed her laughter too, and soon both were laughing at how crazy things have become since the accident at school about an hour ago.

=oOo=

By the time they finished laughing, they found themselves looking at each other. No words were spoken, and a comfortable silence hung in the air.

Arimoto studied Aizawa's features again for the second time today. Even though he was tucked in his bed, all tired and disheveled with a washcloth on his forehead, there was something strangely appealing about him.

Maybe it was because he wasn't being his annoying self right now. Maybe it was because he was really smiling and not just giving her his stupid trademark grin. Maybe it was because the way he was looking at her made her feel like he really cares.

Whatever it was, Arimoto found it tempting to just reach out and...

"It's getting late," she tore herself away from him the second time today.

"Mom's probably worried about me by now." she hastily made an excuse, cheeks burning from embarrassment. From the corner of her eye, she could see the white haired boy blink at her sudden movement. He was surprised but he nodded in agreement.

The dark haired girl stood up. Seeing the washcloth on his forehead as she took quick a look at him, she absentmindedly checked the damp cloth with her free hand. It was warm, but not hot enough to require a fresh soak. She turned the cloth over to let the cooler side rest on his forehead. The boy watched silently, and gave her a quick thanks once she was done.

Picture frame still on hand, she went over to his desk. Stopping for a moment to think of a good place to set the picture, she eventually decided to let the frame stand next to his laptop. After admiring her handiwork, she got her bag off the floor and walked towards the door.

Before opening the door, she turned to wave farewell at the boy on the bed.

"See you around, President Aizawa"

Seeing him smile and nod in response, she turned to leave.

She was almost out of the door when she heard him bidding her farewell.

"Take care, Ichi-san."

=oOo=

Aizawa started to panic when he saw the dark haired girl stop in her tracks and turn to him with a surprised look upon hearing her first name.

"_Oh crap!_"

But before he could apologize for going out of line, blaming his fever, the drugs, and his mother's constant use of her first name, he saw her features relax. With a soft smile on her face, she walked back to his bedside.

"Uh..." was all Aizawa could get out. Even though their gazes were locked at each other, he couldn't figure anything out from the look in her eyes.

Was she angry that he had the audacity to call her at first name basis this early in their relationship? Or was this a sign that she was fine with him calling her like that?

Aizawa was still wondering what was happening when Arimoto made her move.

She leaned in close, her nose almost touching his.

"_WHAT THE-!_"

As if enjoying his panicked reaction, Arimoto widened her smile to a grin.

And then closed her eyes as she softly placed her lips on his.

=oOo=

It wasn't really a kiss, as the two would argue about it in their countless conversations later.

It was more like an extended peck, and somehow he was able to close his eyes and return it for a few moments before she pulled away.

Opening his eyes, he could see her still leaning close but with a much goofier grin than she had before. The same goofy grin that he was probably having right now.

Ichi reached over to pat him on the chest to break the silence between them.

"Get well soon, Hajime-kun."


End file.
